The Other Side
by PolarTempest
Summary: This is a slightly AU story that starts at the end of the Supergirl/Flash crossover episode. My own personal take on how things could have gone.
1. Barry

»I don`t want to go«. That was the last thought Barry Allen had before he was flung through the speed portal. It`s what he wanted wasn`t it? To go home? To see his family? His loved ones? To protect his city from the meta-human threats? Going home was the right thing to do. Then why did it feel wrong.

He had been struggling with going back home for the better part of the day. He was sincere when he told her he would miss her. But not even he knew just how much until he actually left.

Kara Danvers. She was the last thing on his mind when he left. And the first one when he returned home. When he ran back to STAR labs it was as if he had never left. Even when he gave his friends and family a detailed report of all that happened. Even when he told them what, or rather who he left behind on her Earth, he never told them the truth. If he had a second longer to think, he would have stayed. He would have left them all behind to spend some more time with her. But it was too late now. He was home, lying in his bed and she only existed in his dreams now. A universe away she was as good as dead. He was a speedster, if he was faster he could go back. He wasn`t. So he spent every night having the same dream, and waking up every morning feeling alone. When he was asleep she was there, smiling at him with that infectious grin. And when he woke up he felt empty. He figured eventually it would pass. It didn`t. As days and weeks came and went, as he defeated enemy after enemy, he felt more alone. Eventually his speed buster was repaired in order to defeat Zoom. He was tempted to go back. But he knew the imminent danger was too great for Zoom needed to be stopped. And Central city needed the Flash.

It just so happens that Zoom was defeated. Ultimately the world was saved and all that was left were villains of the week and an abundance of optimistic bank robbers. That and the loneliness. Eventually someone was bound to notice something was wrong. Interestingly enough it was Cisco Ramon who felt that Barry wasn`t telling the whole truth. He of course knew about Kara, just not everything.

"So… whats bugging you?" said Cisco as he sat next to Barry. "Nothing." Replied Barry, but his friend could see right past his denial. "I know something is up. You`ve been acting off ever since you`ve returned from that other Earth. Are you even the same Barry? Are you a clone? You`re a clone aren`t you?" replied Cisco in a progressively more worried tone. "I`m not a clone Cisco." was the only sentence Barry managed to utter before Cisco interrupted by kindly warning him that that is obviously something a clone would say. The idea that the now reassured Cisco had was fairly simple. He gambled Barry would rather tell him about his feelings which was no uncommon event with Barry. Before his little trip feelings with Barry seemed to be a weekly podcast. Without stating the obvious, the gamble payed off. Joe`s other daughter opened up. He tried long and hard to explain how he could possibly have feelings for someone he knew for a good day and a half. Maybe less. Ultimately the line "When it`s right it`s right." Did it for Cisco. He understood. He didn`t like it but he understood. It`s not easy realizing your best friend could literally run out on you and your entire universe at any given time, and for a girl no less. Eventually the secret came out. Of course it did. Nothing really stays a secret in STAR labs. For the most part they felt for him. Caitlin more than others. Because Kara didn`t even exist in their universe. She was effectively dead much like Ronnie. Which is perhaps why she was the only one willing to help him should the time come.

It just so happens that the time did come. Weeks later when Wally West started developing powers. To Barry it was a gift. Central city had another speedster. He could leave for as long as wished. The only problem now was saying goodbye to everything and everyone he knew. Maybe forever.

It had been about 6 months since Barry returned home. A storm was raging as they all met in STAR labs. Everybody that Barry cared enough for to say goodbye to. Coincidentally the list pretty much included anybody who knew his secret. For the most part the goodbyes were pretty long. Everybody talked with the presumption that it would be for the last time. Surprisingly enough there were no tears that day. The shortest goodbye was from Joe. In his usual manner he refused to make a lengthy speech detailing the sorrows of missing him. All he said was: "I will want to meet her, you know." To which Barry could only respond with a promise that he would. That pretty much sealed the deal on whether he was ever coming back. He turned around one last time before he put on his mask and ran into a portal generated by the speed force. For the first time in forever he had one thing on this mind.


	2. Kara

Note:

Thank you for not giving up on this story due to the fact that Kara wasn`t even technically in the first chapter. I hope you weren`t too put off by the serious tone of it. I plan on making it progressively less serious as it goes on but not to the point where it`s just a goofy fluff piece. I hope you will stick with me on this magical journey that is SuperFlash. As the two eventually/maybe (Who knows? No spoilers.) reconnect the chapters will also get longer.

* * *

The moment she tossed him through the portal she felt something was off. She couldn`t quite put a finger on it at the time, but she found herself just starring at the empty space where the portal opened. Was she waiting for it to open again? For Barry to come back? Come back and do what? Nobody knew what she waited for. If you cared enough to ask her at the time she wouldn`t know either. She spent 10 whole minutes looking at nothing as if she wished to see beyond the multiversal barrier. She flewhome feeling somewhat confused, but otherwise in good condition. She found herself sitting on her couch watching TV and for some strange reason, she was thinking about what Barry was doing. Did he get home safe? Did he get home at all? The thought of him actually landing on some random Earth scared her. She told herself it was because they had become good friends, and it`s only natural to be afraid for your friends, right?

Soon enough her train of thought was broken by a knock on the door. It was James Olsen. She was surprised yet somewhat happy to see him. On some level she wanted to take Barry`s advice and make a move. It was a long battle with herself. She wanted to kiss him and could find no rational excuse not to. And yet she hesitated. Inevitably she made her move. James returned her kiss with no small amount of passion. However, that was probably one of the few kisses in history in which the kisser displayed less passion than the one being kissed. She didn`t feel it. The attraction and the feeling of being complete that she for whatever reason anticipated simply wasn`t there. She pulled away, which brought James no pleasure. Unlike her he felt the kiss for what it should have been. His disappointment only grew as she told him that it wouldn`t work. That she didn`t feel it anymore. Many would argue that the back and forth they had for months should have amounted to something. But those who knew Kara were well aware how it was all going to end. Truth be told those same people were fairly happy that it ended before it had a chance to begin. Nobody could honestly say that James was anything less than a good man, but he was just not what she needed at the time. Or frankly, ever.

Sadly, however, Kara`s personal life would have to wait. Her birth family decided that this was the day to conquer the Earth. At the time Kara was more annoyed than scared. Why couldn`t she just have one day to do some self-reflection? To figure out why she felt uncharacteristically gloomy. It would all have to wait. National City needed saving.

And saved it was. The combined heroic efforts of Supergirl and the DEO managed to save the day. And for a while she was happy again. She had the support of the city, her family and her coworkers. Nobody doubted her intentions. Well almost nobody but she knew she couldn`t please everyone. Months later her feeling that something was missing started to materialize in one real thought. One simple sentence that crept back into her brain. _I wonder what Barry`s doing_. It was like an infection, refusing to go away. Eventually she started wondering if he missed her at all.

In a twist of events her introspection would once again get interrupted. She received word from the DEO that a portal was opening in the desert. She didn`t even know why but her heart skipped a beat. She put on her costume and flew off towards the reunion. When she landed at the site there was nothing there. No smiling Barry, not even a message in a bottle. She let herself be caught off guard as a streak was running towards her. Her initial and only reaction was simply "Barry?", before she noticed that the colors were inverted. Something was wrong. Had she had time to brace herself she would have been fine. But she didn`t. The yellow speedster slammed into her at full speed and knocked her back about a hundred meters. She managed to recover fairly quickly, and mentally and physically prepared herself for battle. Kara was fast in her own right. However, as fast as she was she couldn`t keep up with the speedster. Before she could fly away he had her by the throat. Not that it meant much. She was the girl of steel and it hardly even kept her from breathing normally. She looked at the yellow speedster pretending he had her. She needed to find out who he was and what he wanted. "Who are you?" she asked, to which he didn`t reply. He merely pulled his mask from his face and said "The Flash sure can pick them". She didn`t know what to make of him. That guy knew Barry and it only made her more curious. "Who are you?" she tried again. This time with more determination and a hint of anger. A hint that grew stronger with every passing second. "If you must know," he replied with a smug grin on his face "My name is Eobard Thawne. And I`m the reverse-flash." He leaned in closer saying, "Barry sure is going to miss you." The way he said it made her afraid. She could have easily freed herself at any time. But he sounded confident. She needed to know if he had Kryptonite. Or perhaps something worse. No, escaping would be counterproductive. She waited for him to show his cards, all the while feeling increasingly unnerved.

A whole 3 seconds passed since his threat. It looked like neither of them would make a move. He went first. Faster than she could process he raised his hand and started vibrating it. She didn`t know what would happen. Could he hurt her? He pushed his hand straight through her. It felt cold. Like the life was sucked out of her. And for a second she felt stupid for believing Barry had come back. Stupid enough that it cost her her life. And the last thing she saw before she dropped on the hot sand was a second portal opening.

* * *

I would like to thank MaimeSan for proofreading the second chapter. I promise that the next chapter will actually feature interaction. And frankly after the two-chapter hype I hope I don`t let you down. The next chapter should be up soon.


	3. The Reunion

Note: I just wanted to say how happy I am that you made it past the first two chapters. Well now the hype is finally over I hope you will enjoy this chapter as well. I would also like to address what appears to be a canon issue. Technically Kara was never hit by anything remotely similar to Thawn`s attack. So while it may not hurt her I feel it`s untested ground enough for the suspension of disbelief to kick in. Without further ado let's jump right in.

* * *

When Barry stepped out of the portal he wasn`t sure if he had made it. Everything looked somewhat familiar. Unfortunately, he had next to no time to think. He barely even had time to take a breath. The first thing he saw as he came out was Kara having a hand pulled out of her by the Reverse-Flash and dropping down lifelessly. Barry never felt slower, in truth he was never faster. He ran past Eobard with Kara in his arms faster than even the Reverse Flash could have registered. He ran carrying her unconscious body to the only place he knew could help.

It`s been months since he`s last been there. Yet somehow as if by pure instinct he found the old DEO HQ. But it was empty. If he could afford to he would have panicked. But he couldn`t, and he didn`t. He looked for anything and everything that could point him in the direction of the new HQ. If there was a new HQ. He was in luck, as he found some moving orders for a building in National City. He knew he wasted too much time already, and frankly he didn`t like having to lay Kara on the cave ground while he looked. He ran around the city feeling as if he was wasting way too much time until he finally found the new HQ. To him it was hours. In reality less than 2 minutes passed.

He was aware the facility was probably well guarded, but he knew there was no time to sign forms and wait for clearance. He ran in ignoring all the guards and the alarms. You can imagine the head of the DEO not being particularly pleased about that. Barry stopped at the center of room and yelled for help. The annoyance he felt as he was being bombarded with questions while Kara was dying in his arms was rivaled only by that of Kara herself as she realized she had to tilt the plane. Luckily Hank was no idiot.

As soon as he saw that Supergirl was injured he called the medical team, along with a security team. Barry felt relieved. Help had arrived. He didn`t even care that he was about to be arrested. Honestly he felt that the DEO containment cell was nicer than that of STAR labs. It definitely had more room. It didn`t even take long before Alex and Hank came to interrogate him. It frankly wasn`t a long interrogation. Barry promptly introduced himself as Kara`s friend, which made them consider him less of a threat. He was still kept under close watch until she was actually awake to confirm his story. For the most part they believed him. The multiverse explanation was a bit harder to swallow, which was ironic considering that Hank was an alien himself.

Alex decided to escort Barry to Kara`s recovery room. To him it looked like she was just sleeping. The lack of blood certainly made it look that way. And he wasn`t even far off. Alex calmly explained that the sunlight emulators were accelerating her healing. He felt relieved. He traveled too far to simply attend her funeral. For whatever reason Alex decided to hold off the questions about her attacker. Figured it could wait till Kara was awake. It took 2 whole hours for her to wake up. 2 hours in which Barry hadn`t moved, cried or made a sound. He simply waited.

When Kara woke up she felt dizzy and confused. It took her a moment to remember what happened. _I was dying, and then…_ "Barry?".

He looked at her with a smile. To some it would look like a sad smile. It wasn`t. He was just happy she was alright. "Hey Kara,",he said "You`ve definitely seen better days." he continued playfully.

She let out a chuckle and replied "You could say that. What are you doing here?"

He pretended to think for a second and said that he was saving the day apparently. She looked at him, smiled and replied in the most serious tone she could muster, which wasn`t serious by any sense, to tell him that she was on top of things. They laughed together for the first time in forever.

Sadly, they didn`t have time to catch up. Kara had questions. Important questions about her would-be killer. He explained who Eobard was, what he was, and more importantly why he was probably there. To tell you the truth Barry didn`t know. Thawne was supposed to be dead. For him to not only be alive but to also travel to Kara`s earth and attack her? Something was up. He figured the Reverse-Flash had to be faster than the last time he saw him. Otherwise Kara would have taken him easily. He was quite upset that the reunion he was hoping for took such a dark turn. Kara listened to his longwinded and frankly overly-detailed explanation without interruption, until he got to the part where that man killed his mother. That part caught Kara off guard.

"The man killed your mother and you let him get away?" she asked.

Barry looked at her for a second, smiled and said: "I had more important things to worry about.".

She considered asking him what he meant by that. But she knew. And she was grateful. Alex stood at the back of the room not even being bothered by the fact that she was ignored by both of them. She let them have their moment. The both of them sat there in near silence just looking at each other for several seconds. Something just felt right Neither would even begin to confess their attraction at that point, which amused Alex to no ends.

Neither of them realized that it was evening already. Not that they spent several hours in the medical wing. It`s just that neither of them noticed how late it was to begin with when Kara woke up. That was the moment when it hit Barry. He travelled across the multiverse packing nothing but his suit and the briefs he was wearing. Only then did he realize that he was technically homeless, unemployed and didn`t even exist as a person. So naturally he asked Hank if he could stay at the DEO. It sure as hell beat the National cCity bridge. If there was one. Barry didn`t know. Before Hank could make completely valid excuses like how all the living quarters were occupied Kara intercepted and offered him her couch. Kara`s couch definitely beat the possibly non-existent National Ccity bridge so he happily accepted.

Barry didn`t take long to get settled on the couch. All it took was him taking off his costume and getting a blanket from Kara. To Barry`s pleasure and Kara`s possible displeasure the DEO loaned Barry some civilian clothes. And so it was that they sat on Kara`s couch, now Barry`s bed, watching what passed for quality programming on her Earth. It didn`t take long before Barry popped the question. The big question. "How are you and James doing?". She was caught off guard.

"We aren`t," she replied.

Barry was intrigued by that. He asked her why not, to which she replied "He wasn`t the one.". Funnily enough she looked at Barry in a somewhat meaningful way when she said that. Much like Barry looked at her when he told her why he let Eobard go. And if Barry was better at interpreting women he would have taken a hint. But he wasn`t and he didn`t. All he did was say "That's too bad." while trying not to look even a bit excited by the prospect that Kara was single. Oddly enough none of them seemed overly concerned that an evil speedster was loose. They merely enjoyed each other's company.

* * *

Note: I would like to once again thank my brilliant proofreader/editor MaimeSan. We are real sticklers for canon rules and proper characterization. And she`s been an immense help in helping me fix my many typing errors, and pointing out some inconsistencies. To that end I would like to quickly talk about that. If you are fine with the story as It is you can skip this part. I would like to address the controversial Thawne nearly killing Kara scene. I personally felt that an infinite mass punch which would apparently do the trick was not a thing in the shows yet and would be an overkill. So I went with a subtler attack that could theoretically do the trick maybe. The second the second thing I wanted to discuss in Alex, Hank and Barry. I went back and double checked. Turns out Alex and Hank were AWOL at the time of the crossover and had never actually met. And the off chance you were confused by the plane reference. It from episode one of Supergirl. Thank you for sitting here and reading this boring excuse for a self-apologizing note. I hope you enjoy the story.


	4. Game Night

If anybody would come to Kara`s apartment the following morning, they would find that Barry wasn`t asleep in the living room. If the same person would check the bedroom, they would also find it empty. In fact, anyone looking for the two superheroes would have to walk to a nearby all-you-can-eat donut shop. In the tightly knit community of people who knew both Kara and Barry it was a well-established fact that they both loved donuts. For them it was something more than that. The donut shop was the first and last place they hanged out together as Kara and Barry.

There was no Flash and Supergirl, no DEO and definitely no villains. Just an alien girl and a meta-human boy sitting and eating donuts. They talked a lot. Nothing really substantial but they seemingly never stopped talking. Mostly they told each other stories of the time they were separated. And only the funny ones. Donuts at seven in the morning was neither the time nor place for heavy conversation. When Kara offered to pay, Barry tried his hardest to be a gentleman and pay the bill just like Joe taught him. What good old Joe never had to consider was Barry travelling to another universe with virtually no money whatsoever. So Kara won that particular non-argument and covered the bill.

He knew he needed to get a job if he wanted to stay there a while. Working as a CSI or even a scientist would require actually existing on this particular Earth. So he got himself the most fitting job any man had ever had. He had become a currier for CatCo. When Kara heard the news she was excited to be working with him, even in a limited capacity, but she was mostly amused that a speedster was working as a delivery boy. It just didn`t seem fair to the competition. In truth it was probably lucky for Barry that Cat Grant had left her position. Given how she knew who he was.

Eventually Barry found out who was head of CatCo. He was pretty happy to see James again. Much happier than James was to see him. But James Olsen kept it civil. He never really blamed Barry for how things ended with Kara, but the old feeling of jealousy never seemed to leave. When they eventually ended their shifts at work they made way to the DEO. There were still plans to make regarding Eobard.

They discussed the Reverse-Flash in detail. Everything from his past, skills and possible combat tactics. Eventually they decided to build a cold gun not unlike the one Cisco made. They seemed too effective at eliminating speedsters. Once the meeting was over Kara and Barry partook in some delicious ice cream. The feast was interrupted by Winn who entered the room. He was fairly excited to see Barry again. He always liked him. And not only because he was from another universe.

Only after he heard about everything that happened the previous day he realized he picked the wrong day to take a day off. For superheroes justice never rests, but for a DEO employee mandatory vacation days were very much a thing. The only person who was able to consistently avoid taking an actual break seemed to be Alex. Even that record was endangered when it seemed like Lucy Lane would stay as head of the department.

The last person to walk in on them and their frozen bliss was Alex. It only then occurred to her that she and Barry were never properly introduced. They were aware of each other but that was where the familiarity stopped. It also didn`t help that the only time they met she tried to interrogate him. So it was only natural for Alex to try again at making a good impression on her sister's new friend. Barry was nothing less than stoked to meet her. She was Kara`s sister after all. They begrudgingly shared the ice cream and the three of them had a lovely if a rather light hearted conversation.

The two decided to call it a day and headed home for the day. There were no major crimes committed, and no alien attacks perpetrated. The evening was theirs to enjoy as they saw fit. Given their respective powers they could have chosen anywhere. They chose the couch. That time the conversation turned meaningful. She ended up asking him why he even came back. Not that she minded at all. He didn`t even try to hide it. The reason was simple, and so was his answer, "I came back for you."

The answer took her by surprise. A pleasant surprise but a surprise nonetheless. She smiled at him in a way that he was sure only she was capable in all of the multiverse and said "I`m glad you did."

In the end so was he. And after continuing the conversation in a much more light-hearted manner the two went to sleep.

The next day they opted for a healthier breakfast option. Neither of them knew if they were actually capable of getting fat but they really didn`t want to find out. So they stayed at home where Barry made more pancakes than most men had seen in a month. It was his way of saying thank you for the couch. Work was fairly standard that day. Nothing new and monumental happened. It was just work. That is until they saw a bank robbery was taking place. One could say it took a special kind of optimism to even consider such crimes in National City. Since Supergirl came to the scene there hasn`t really been a successful robbery. Especially now that she had help. She didn`t need any help. But sometimes it was nice to work with someone. If for no other reason than to bounce jokes off of. And as it turns out Barry and Kara had a natural chemistry that made their teamwork appear telepathic. It could certainly be said that the criminal society could do without their dramatic flair.

Once they arrived at the DEO, Barry expected more than a good job. They had just stopped an armed robbery with several hostages. But he guessed such things were less than an issue for someone like Kara. And truth be told they were not an issue for him anymore either. His team most likely only kept congratulating him on such matters out of habit alone. It was at the DEO that Barry met the one person so far that he actually somewhat disliked. Mon-El.

The Daxamite came out from his living quarters and demanded, albeit politely to go to a bar. Mon- El wasn`t the type of man Barry would voluntarily hang out with. He was brash, somewhat mean and he definitely didn`t like the way he talked to Kara. Was his judgement clouded by some form of jealousy? Perhaps. But nonetheless that's the impression he received from Mon-El. Kara almost agreed when she remembered that it was game night. She of course invited both Barry and Mon-El.

That particular game night the apartment was packed full. Pretty much everybody who could show up did. Alex, James, Winn, Mon-El and of course Barry. That particular night they played charades which meant everybody had to choose a partner. Everyone was slightly surprised when Kara chose Barry seeing how he was the new guy. They ended up going against Alex and Winn, and James and Mon-El. It was heated duel that probably should have gone down in the chronicles of time for all humanity to marvel at. Sadly, it was just a game of charades so that didn`t happen. What did happen was Kara and Barry winning decisively.

When everybody cleared out and it was just the two of them on that couch they high-fived each other to celebrate their victory. It was getting late, however, so the TV would have wait until tomorrow.


	5. The Tabloid

It has been several days since the Reverse-Flash was last heard from. It was unlikely that he would just leave. And that made everybody somewhat nervous. It didn`t help that an old threat was emerging. Cadmus had started a propaganda campaign against the alien population. At the time it seemed they were all talk. Until they bit. It was a seemingly average morning. The sun was shining, the wind was blowing and a bank was being robbed. Kara and Barry rushed to the scene to prevent this most average of crimes. To their dismay the discovered that the robbers were armed with advanced, almost alien weaponry. They didn`t recognize the design and therefore didn`t engage head on.

Barry used his speed to create a distraction while Kara would use her heat-vision to disable their weapons. It didn`t go according to plan. A stray shot hit Barry in the chest and knocked him down. Kara reacted on pure instinct. She flew to Barry`s side and shielded him from further shots with her own body. The way she held him almost looked like she was cradling him. By the time Barry awoke and she let him go, the robbers managed to escape. At that moment Barry felt immensely useless. Kara went back to work but insisted that Barry went to the DEO for a checkup. He never could say no to her.

All seemed well until the following day. Nobody said anything at CatCo. It was at the DEO where knowing smirks were showing. They really didn`t know what was going on. That was until Winn walked up to them and said: "Hey lovebirds."

They both blushed slightly then reacted with genuine surprise. Winn showed them a tabloid cover with Barry in Kara`s arms and a prominent tagline reading " _National City`s Super-Lovers_?" They blushed heavily that time and were so taken aback by the poor journalism that they forgot to deny the claim.

Instead they as if planed remarked on the cheesiness at the same time. They did eventually set the record straight but by then the damage was already done. Before they could even begin to discuss how to deal with it Alex walked into the room and halfheartedly threw the tabloid on the table.

"So when were you going to tell me about this?" She asked.

Before they could start making completely accurate excuses she stopped them to let them know she was joking. The rest of the stay at the DEO went on in a similar manner. Mostly chewed up jokes that nobody found funny anymore after an hour. Apparently some agent even whistled at them in a catcalling manner but reportedly that guy got fired.

They made their own jokes on the way back home. At some point one of them even said how crazy them actually dating would be. They both agreed on that sentiment but neither really believed it. The bad jokes kept going for so long that one day Kara and Barry showed up at the DEO in their suits holding hands, and skipping like preschoolers. They thought it was hilarious. So did most others. And eventually the jokes stopped.

At last it was game night again. Somehow as if resurrected from the pits of dead humor the so-called "Superflash jokes" made an appearance. But this time they were spot on. Alex and Winn tried to distract the reigning champions with one simple observation.

They noticed that every game night Kara and Barry ended up sitting just a little bit closer to each other. Nobody knew a kryptonian and a metahuman could blush so hard, but they did. They didn`t move though. They were perfectly comfortable in their current positions. Despite her valiant effort Alex`s plan failed and Kara and Barry won once again.

It was on that couch once again that Kara asked the most important question so far. She couldn't stop thinking about it and the doubt was killing her. "How long are you staying?"

Barry looked at her, released a sigh and said "Until you get tired of me."

His response painted a smile on her face, "A long time then."

* * *

Note: Sorry for the shorter chapter. I felt that having to develop the story any further in this particular chapter wouldn`t really work. I would like to thank you all for reading and especially those who review my work. Your feedback means the world to me.


	6. The Mountains

The following morning Barry woke up and felt something. It was a pleasant feeling. He knew something happened between them yesterday. Something has changed but he wasn`t quite sure what. This morning he went a bit overboard making breakfast. Eggs, bacon and even pancakes. They sat there in the kitchen and ate together smiling. Kara felt different as well. She also knew something changed. Neither of them talked about it. And neither noticed how close their chairs were.

They almost stared getting ready for work when Kara realized that National City had a holiday. There was no work. They sat on the couch watching TV for hours until they got bored. Kara eventually had a brilliant idea. She told Barry to get in his suit. Despite his constant attempts to find out what was going on she kept him in the dark. She waited for him to get dressed. Neither of them used their speed since there was no emergency.

Once he was done she picked him up bridal style and flew them both to a nearby mountain. They stopped for donuts on the way. Upon arrival they sat on the edge and stared towards the expanding landscape. The sun was slowly setting and the wind was lightly blowing. They sat there eating donuts and just talking. One would imagine they would have run out of conversation topics by now, but they never did. Kara remarked on how beautiful the sunset was and Barry saw an opportunity.

He turned towards her and said "Not as beautiful as you."

She took his hand in her own and told him how remarkably cheesy that was. They sat even closer together and if anyone would have asked them it was because of the cold. They both knew better.

What some might consider something of a first date was tragically interrupted. The DEO had a lead on the Reverse-Flash. It seemed he was causing trouble in a desert not far from them. They begrudgingly let go of each-others hands and went to investigate. It was not what they expected.

Thawne was sitting there on the floor just waiting. As the two heroes approached he stood up and yelled "Welcome lovebirds".

Barry demanded to know what Thawne was doing there. He smirked and told him nothing. Barry wanted to stop him then and there. He didn`t want to have him ruin his good time. He also didn`t want to take the offensive. Both Barry and Kara were well aware that their combined speed and might were enough to take on Thawne. Thawne should have also known. And yet he seemed confident.

The Reverse-Flash ran full speed at Barry attempting to catch him off guard. But the Flash was ready for him. He grabbed him by his extended arm and threw him off balance. He was surprised at how fast Eobard had become. He quickly got up and threw several punches at Barry. It almost seemed like he wasn`t aware of Barry`s speed. While Barry was keeping Thawne busy Kara used her ice breath to slow him down.

By the time she was done the Reverse-Flash could barely even be referred to as a speedster. Once he was sufficiently slow they were confident enough to use some of their dramatic flair and went for the knockout punch. Before he could wake up Barry took the initiative and ran him to the DEO holding cell, with Kara flying behind him should anything go wrong. Once he was contained Barry should have been able to relax, but he felt something wasn`t right. It was too easy. Kara placed her hand on his shoulder blades and advised him to take the win. If there were other battles to be fought they could fight them another day. That eased his tension enough for them to go home.

When they arrived home they found a pizza was waiting for them on the table. It came with a note saying "Nice work today", which turned out to be a gift from Alex. They took it with them to the couch where they snuggled together.

"Where were we?" said Kara while smiling at Barry.

"I believe you were holding my hand," he replied as he took her hand in his. Once their favorite show started it was nothing but bliss. She placed her head on his shoulder and they stayed that way for hours.


	7. Man Of Steel

Barry and Kara fell asleep on that couch. When they woke up their hands were still linked and Kara`s head was still on his shoulder. If they were normal humans, they would have woken up with severe back and neck pains. Lucky for them they were fine. They looked at each-other, remembered last night and smiled. Neither of them put too much thought into what it means for them. Were they dating? Were they together? None of that mattered. They were them and they were in a place that felt right to them.

While Kara went to the bathroom to get ready for work, Barry made breakfast. They spent the morning making jokes at various subjects. They went to work with a special kind of glee in their eyes. Work went by like a breeze, but the real event of the day happened at the DEO HQ. Kara and Barry were spending vast amounts of their energy trying to keep their eyes off each-other. They were superheroes and didn`t want to come off as love struck teenagers.

Towards the end of the work day people started running around. By the way they were behaving you would imagine that the president was coming to visit. Kara tried to use her super-hearing to determine what was happening but all she heard was vague terms like "He`s coming" or the occasional "It`s him". Then she heard it. The effect on the air and the flapping of the cape.

By the time she realized who it was she didn`t even need her hearing. Clark Kent flew into the DEO causing everyone to form two lines creating a path for him. He shook hands and talked with every agent in the room. Then he finally made his way to Kara.

"Hey, cuz," he said endearingly.

She was delighted to see him. She just wasn`t sure why he had come in the first place. She didn`t even get a chance to ask him, because he immediately asked to see the Flash, saying he needed to have words with him. Deep inside Kara hoped he was going to talk about him being a superhero. But she knew that wasn`t the case.

Clark walked over to Barry`s workstation where he was working on his tachyon enhancer. He was very polite about it. He introduced himself as Kara`s cousin, asked how Barry was then went straight to point. "What is it that you think you are doing with my cousin, Barry?"

Barry heard stories about Superman. He knew what he was capable of. He also knew he was a nice guy and didn`t buy his protective big brother routine for a second. He was still very intimidating. Barry`s foot was in his mouth as he tried to deny his accusations. Clark noticed it, but at this point he kept going purely for his own amusement. Barry`s ever so mild distress was noticed by Kara as well which prompted her to put a stop to her cousin's antics.

"Barry and I are adults Clark. We don`t need your permission," she tried to say with a serious face but it was obvious it was just banter between family members. Kara could have watched Barry squirm a bit longer, and he was immensely grateful that she didn`t.

Clark then turned towards him looked at him with a dead serious face and said "If you hurt her the only running you will do will be on the moon."

Upon finishing the statement, he smiled as if it was merely a joke. And Barry could have sworn that Clark somehow channeled Oliver Queen. The resemblance was uncanny. As Clark was preparing to leave, Kara invited him to join game night. Between what happened the previous evening and what just happened now Barry had almost forgotten about game night.

This time it was Barry`s and Kara`s turn for some light cheating. Not like the reigning champions needed it. But to them it was more of a practical joke. They sat as close together as space would allow the two and Barry even occasionally put his arm around her waist.

Alex and Winn just thought it was adorable. The real effect was on the newly formed team of Clark and James. The fact that James felt quite jealous and Clark really didn`t like them getting physical really threw them off their game. Hence the reigning champions became victorious once again.

Their celebratory high five was broken by Alex`s bombshell of a question, "So are you guys a thing now? I mean it took you long enough."

They really didn`t know what to tell her. At this point there really was no point denying there was something there considering where Barry`s arm was at the time of the conversation. The best they could do was decide that they weren`t putting any labels on it. Just as Alex was about to dig deeper into the subject she received an emergency call from the DEO. Apparently the Reverse-Flash has escaped. With a supply of DEO-stored kryptonite.

Note: I would like to thank you all for the kind reviews. I would really love to see more feedback. Even negative ones. So don`t be shy. Also I recently added a cover photo. Hope you like it.


	8. The Reverse Flash

Game night was over as soon as Alex relayed the message. Kara and Barry went ahead while Clark was thoughtful enough to carry Alex along. The damage at the DEO was much smaller than expected. It looked like Thawne knew exactly what he was looking for and where to find it. Barry blamed himself. Not only was he the reason Eobard had the intention and apparent capability of hurting Kara he was also the one who helped design his prison cell.

Thawne was not supposed to be fast enough to phase through. And yet he did. They didn`t waste time. This time Eobard was not just a passive threat. He was an imminent one. For both Kara and Clark. Barry had a hunch so they tuned the DEO satellites to pick up tachyon signatures. He figured that if Thawne was faster that was the most obvious reason why. Turned out he was correct. There was a tachyon trace in an abandoned warehouse at the outskirts of the city.

Barry and Kara took point while Superman stayed in the air in case something went wrong. If Thawne had kryptonite Barry wasn`t going allow everyone to walk into a trap. And he would prefer to keep Kara by his side. Barry expected a less obvious looking trap. Thawne was once again just sitting there on a wicker-chair which both Barry and Kara thought was weird on multiple levels.

"Where`s the kryptonite Thawne?" was the first thing Barry asked. He didn`t care about his speed or anything else. His priority was keeping Kara safe. "

It`s with my new friends. They are always looking for new ways to kill aliens. They even helped me build this beauty. Recognize it Flash?" As Thawne pointed towards his emblem Barry felt like a blind fool.

He should have noticed Thawne was faster than usual. And the tachyon enhancer under his emblem helped him achieve it. While Barry was busy blaming himself for something he couldn`t have seen coming Kara started thinking who his friends were. She came to the conclusion that it must have been Cadmus. Time for thinking was over. The Reverse-Flash got off his weird chair and put on his mask. "Shall we dance Flash?"

He attacked Barry with all the speed he could muster. Even with his tachyon enhancer he couldn`t keep up with Barry. But he was a better fighter. Lucky for him he had backup. As Thawne was trying to beat on Barry, Kara was already on top of him throwing punches. Maybe he could have dodged one of them. But both of them coming at him was a lost cause. He knew he had to escape.

Thawne ran out of the warehouse as fast as he could. But planning ahead is what saved the day. As soon as the Reverse-Flash ran out the main door Superman was already on him. He knocked him down into the ground and held him there. Kara and Clark used their Ice breaths to subdue him for transportation. This time Barry took no chances. He reinforced the cell and took Eobard`s every last possession. Which is something he should have done earlier. Just another item for the list of things he felt guilty about.

It was back at the house that Barry finally felt somewhat at ease. The imminent danger had passed. They felt that the best way to celebrate their victory was to cuddle on the couch and watch some TV. About two hours in, Barry said he should start paying rent. Kara didn't mind him staying for free but she knew he did. So they decided that Barry would cover the immense food costs of their household. It was already late November and Barry started realizing that Christmas was coming soon.

Note: If the ending seems weird to you I promise it will all make sense next Chapter.


	9. Holidays

It has now been several weeks since the Reverse-Flash had been neutralized. Cadmus hadn`t made a single move against Kara or Clark, and all seemed well for the time being. Christmas was drawing ever closer and Barry knew that he couldn`t stay on this Earth during the holidays. Kara on the other hand was busy planning a holiday get-together. However, it did not go well. Alex was going to spend the holidays with Maggie. Hank didn`t really celebrate Christmas and James and Winn also had other plans. Which led Kara realize that her party was going to be either very small or very non-existent.

They were cuddling on the couch watching some obscure Earth-38 monster movie when Barry told Kara he was planning on leaving for the holidays. The news made her heart skip a beat and not in a good way. She wasn`t happy. Until Barry asked her to come with him. To meet his family and friends. She gave it a long thought. It somewhat felt like meeting his family was a huge step that she wasn`t quite ready to take. But he asked her with puppy dog eyes so big all her doubts faded away.

Unlike Barry she planned the trip. She packed a month`s worth of clothes and arranged for Superman to cover for her absence. They said their goodbyes and departed for Earth-1. Kara packed like a girl and Barry wasn`t quite sure their combined speed was going to carry both of them and their weight in luggage. Luckily they made it through. The portal opened up and they landed right in the cortex of STAR labs. Barry yelled as loud as he could to see if anyone was there.

The first person to pop up was Cisco. As he walked into the cortex he made some comments about anybody being able to come in and then something about the poor security. He stopped as soon as he saw who the intruder was. The two of them engaged in the manliest hug they could muster. The first issue of the day popped up when Barry tried to introduce his companion.

"Cisco, this is Kara Danvers my…" he stopped because he wasn`t quite sure what to introduce her as.

She saw he was in a bit of a jam and finished his sentence "I`m his girlfriend."

Barry blushed much more than she did. Cisco looked at Kara, then at Barry "Nice bro." was all he could muster.

"I`m right here you know" added Kara looking as annoyed as Kara could look without being genuinely annoyed.

"I`m sorry," Cisco went on the defensive, "I didn`t mean it that way."

Barry looked at his struggling friend then informed him that she was messing with him.

"Well played Danvers," was all he could respond with.

It didn`t take long for Cisco to start asking about Kara`s powers. It seemed like she was only too happy to start showing them off. Barry knew she didn`t meet many people who haven`t yet seen Supergirl in action so he just silently shared in her joy.

It was during Kara`s flying demonstration that Caitlin walked in. She was two parts happy to see Barry and one part surprised by the flying girl above them. Once Barry made the necessary introductions Kara felt more at ease. She imagined the whole trip would be somewhat awkward but Barry`s friends were really pleasant people.

Barry sort of wanted to see how Wally was doing. He was sure he could handle being the Flash without him but he was a bit concerned nonetheless. It didn`t take long for Wally to run to the vortex, he was out stopping a bank robbery. At this point optimistic criminals seemed to be a multiversal constant. Wally was the only one who actually gained anything from Barry leaving. He was able to become his own man, and for that he would be forever grateful.

Barry didn`t even get to introduce Kara before a second blur followed Wally. It was Jesse. Before Barry could say anything Wally and Jesse were all over each-other. He waited politely before coughing loudly to bring some attention to himself and Kara. He knew Wally and Jesse had a thing going, he just didn`t know that it had gone so far. He didn`t take long introducing everybody. Mostly because the conversation started flowing without Barry awkwardly trying to break the ice.

Barry took Kara by the hand as they walked towards the West house. He was really excited to see Joe again. When he knocked on the door he felt slightly nervous. Was he going to like her? It was Kara. Barry never met a person who disliked her, excluding her rogue gallery of course. When Joe opened the door he was in a state of shock. He secretly hoped that Barry would come to visit for the holidays, but for it to actually happen was something else altogether.

For a long time neither of them said nothing. Then they embraced. Joe wasn`t sure he would ever see him again. Yet here he was. With a pretty girl at his side. Kara was still waiting awkwardly as they were invited inside. Luckily Barry ended her misery by introducing her to his step-father. Meeting Joe was one of the highpoints of her stay on Earth 1. He was very nice, and warm. For some reason she expected to be kicked out of the house as soon as the word alien was brought up. All her fears were unfounded.

When Iris heard her brother was home she left work early to come and visit. When Barry was done introducing her and Kara, Iris gave him a light slap on the shoulder saying "Nice work Barry."

When Iris went to help Joe in the kitchen Kara casually said "I`m so happy I get to be your trophy wife."

Barry knew it was just banter but he tried to comfort her anyway, "That's not true. You also make a mean chicken."

Kara lightly punched his shoulder. She knew it wouldn`t hurt him. He pretended it did anyway. Eventually they stopped their playful banter and had to decide where Kara would sleep. It turned out all of the rooms at the West household were already occupied. Even Wally and Jesse had to share a bedroom. Seeing how there was no other option Barry and Kara elected to do the same with Barry`s room.

At first Barry suggested flipping a coin to see who would get the bed. Kara felt it was a stupid idea. They were both adults in a semi-serious relationship. If they couldn`t share a bed, then they might as well just call it quits. Barry was of course just being a gentleman, which Kara was well aware of, so she gave him a small push in order to spare him from sleeping on the couch in his own house.

For the next few days Barry gave Kara an extended tour of Central City. When they ran out of sights there they even took a road trip to Star City. The visit to the arrow cave was a surprising mix of pleasant and anxious. Oliver Queen just gave of a nice guy who could shoot you vibe.

It was the night of the Christmas party. It appeared that Joe managed to drum up everybody. Cisco even opened a breach for Harry to visit, since he didn`t have Jesse`s speed. The evening was pretty chaotic. In one corner there was Joe and Harry discussing their speedster children and in the other those same children found a mistletoe.

Caitlin and Cisco chatted away by the punch bowl seemingly trying to explain some technology to Iris. Eventually even Joe`s new lady friend showed up to visit. This setup allowed Barry and Kara plenty of opportunities to chat with everyone or be alone if they wanted to.

"There`s a mistletoe you know. Above us," said Barry as if it were the truth.

Kara started to remark how there wasn`t one when she saw a blur and a mistletoe appear above their heads. "Oh, you," was her only reaction.

Barry started to protest saying that wasn`t him. Kara didn`t believe them until she saw Wally and Jesse smirking at them.

"Oh, I see. I guess we have no choice then," she said pretending it was a huge burden.

They looked at each other for a long time. Their pupils dilated, hearts pounding and skipping beats. Their stomachs were twisting with butterflies and expectation. Their faces grew hot and they blushed. And then they couldn`t wait any longer. Their lips touched. The first was soft as if it were a test. Then their lips formed a wide smile and they couldn`t stop the next one. What started off as a small mistletoe kiss evolved into a passionate kiss that continued for as long their lungs could hold. Which in their case was a long while.

The last thing Barry and Kara heard before they started kissing was a drunk Cisco yelling, "Way to go Barry," in the background, followed by what seemed to be smack on the shoulder by Caitlin.


	10. Worlds at War

The dynamic duo of Polar Tempest the occasional writer and Maimesan the best editor on the planet returns once again to continue this story that has unfortunately been put on hold. Originally this chapter was planned as part of a spin-off story but I figured why complicate things more then necessary. Without further ado: enjoy.

* * *

"We've made...it?" Barry dropped out of the portal expecting to see national city. It had been a day since the Christmas party and he was due back with Kara. Instead of the bright and sunny landscape of National City he was greeted by a dark and gloomy desolation . In his immediate view he could see half ruined buildings and rubble littering the alleyways.

"Where are we?" he asked. And yet when he turned around there was nobody there. "Strange," he thought to himself. He was sure Kara followed him through the speed force portal. He called out to her but all he could hear was the depressing sound of silence.

He was getting worried as he called out again and again, until he was interrupted by a strange voice. "Keep it down will you," said the man, "you are loud enough to wake up the dead. God knows that's the last thing we need nowadays." Barry looked around to find the owner of the disgruntled voice. He laid eyes upon a gentleman who could be described as anything but such. He was unshaven, his shirt was torn in several places and his heavy coat looked as if it had never been washed. He was sitting by a trashcan bonfire, giving Barry an annoyed look.

"Sorry, I didn't know I was being so loud," said Barry somewhat disingenuously while walking towards the stranger.

"Sure, whatever," said the man looking at the comparatively nice clothing Barry was wearing. "What display case did you get away from princess?" he asked.

Barry had no idea how to answer the question so he simply shrugged. He looked the man over wondering if there was even a point in asking him questions. He seemed less than interested in anything but the fire keeping him warm.

"I hope you don't mind me asking," asked Barry," Where am I?"

"National city where else. Where dreams come to die. Among other things to be honest," replied the man who was contemplating if the nicely dressed stranger was all there.

"This can't be," he uttered. He tried giving the man some money in exchange for his help. "What am I supposed to do with this," he asked, "It's worthless." Barry took no notice of the stranger's apparent apathy towards money. Deciding he needed to see what was going on he bolted towards the city center. There was no significant change in landscape for what seemed like forever. The buildings were still at least partially ruined and the general atmosphere had a sense of despair around it.

"This isn't right," he kept telling himself as he made his way through the shadow graveyard of a city he now called his home. If there were answers to be had then the DEO would likely have them. At least he hoped. He quickened his pace and moved towards the department's city offices.

He stopped at the base of the great skyscraper, which was now half gone, and laid eyes upon a dreary red message written on the side of the once great building.

"Abandon all hope."

"The city or the building," he thought. Not that it mattered. Both were clearly deserted. He then decided that perhaps, he could find what he was looking for at CatCo. "I still need to find Kara," he said to himself getting more worried. She could handle herself, he was sure of that. He just didn't like her having to. He flung his bag from his shoulder and opened it up. Slowly he pulled out his scarlet suit and noticed a blue one under it. He paused for a second and thought of its owner, then put on suit.

The journey to CatCo took longer than expected. He was new to the city to begin with and having it look as it did didn't help any. Compared to the rest of the city, the building looked surprisingly well. While being deserted it was mostly still there. Barry ran up and down its halls and offices looking for an idea of what happened. Having suspected the computer system was down, he made way to the records room to check the physical copies of the news, the media so meticulously kept. The headlines were disturbing to say the least.

"Another Earth Discovered!" was the first one that popped up. The only problem was the date. The date read only days after he met Kara. "This never happened," he said to himself.

"Oh, but it did," said a familiar voice from the shadows of the archive. "Oh, please no," said Barry louder than anticipated. "Oh, yes," answered the voice now sounding even more menacing than before. "Miss me, Barry?"

"Thawne," said Barry rather dramatically, "I should have known this was you. What did you do?"

"Me? Did this? What exactly did I do, Barry?" said the reverse flash with a false tone of surprise. "You know what. This. You changed history. Why?" asked Barry feeling more distressed by the second. Eobard Thawne running the streets was more than he bargained for in a day.

"Funny thing, Barry. I didn't do that. You did. When you and your little girlfriend decided to dance around between universes as if you were popping over to the kitchen. The speed force didn't like that, Barry. Not one bit."

"How does me traveling between worlds do this? National city is in ruins, Kara is missing and all this you say is because a speed force threw a tantrum," said Barry.

"Careful, boy. Do not take the speed force lightly. You broke the barrier and the continuum cracked. The last time you crossed, the smallest of cracks occurred. The existence of parallel worlds was public knowledge. And more importantly the path was open."

Barry listened to his words and slowly began to grasp them. The horror of what must have occurred. Eobard noticed the change in Barry's demeanor. "So you get it now, do you? This wasn't some rogue villain or a random alien invasion. And it wasn't me. Manifest destiny, Barry. That's what killed this city"

"Why are you telling me this?" asked Barry. His breathing became shallow and he started sweating. "What do you gain from this?"

"Oh, that's quite simple Barry. You see, you locked me in a cage. More than once. And I watched while you undid the future. Undid my past. I got out, Barry. And now I'm here in this hell of a timeline to tell you one thing. We are the same, Barry. Your world is gone. Both of them. Along with your past and everyone you ever loved. Isn't it wonderful?"

Barry clenched his fists, charged at Eobard and swung widely at his head. Thawne ducked his blow and knocked him off balance. "Not so easy without help is it? Save your energy, Barry. I'm pretty sure you're going to need it."

Barry got back to feet. "This isn't over, Thawne."

"It never is," he replied, "You might want to keep reading. Never know what you might find." Eobard Thawne walked out.

Barry decided that he needed to get through the archives faster. He abandoned his previous method of slowly reading in favor of his speed reading. He had to sludge through pages upon pages of gossip to find a somewhat relevant article.

"Superman denounces humanity."

"So Clark left?" Superman was one of the few individuals capable and willing to help him get back home. None of his teammates and friends lived on this Earth. It was just Kara and her friends and family. Who were all apparently missing. Or worse...dead. In the end it was irrelevant. He needed help. His mind raced with possibilities some better than others. And then like a flash it hit him. When Kara would tell him of her cousin she would sometimes mention a vigilante, who operated from a place called Gotham City. It was a long shot but also his only one. He needed to find Kara, and this man seemed to be his best bet.


	11. Gotham City

Hello everyone. Sorry we`re late. Turns out my time is severely limited these days. But I managed to find some and was able to finish this chapter. I would like to say sorry first of all for the somewhat extreme mood whiplash of this chapter. I came to a conclusion that dark and gritty is no was to write a SuperFlash story. Without further ado thank you to Maime-san for her editorial contribution and I hope you enjoy the chapter.

* * *

Barry had slowly approached the once windowed section of what was once CatCo. It was now broken and filthy but the hole made for a better window than the glass ever could. He noticed the sun was setting over the horizon as the day gave way to dusk. And there he saw her, a silhouette against the red sun, her even redder cape flapping against the stale air.

"Kara," he thought to himself. He took a few steps back and ran into the empty air. The momentum carried him far enough to reach the next building, which he scaled vertically. He continued running the maze of half torn skyscrapers and empty apartment buildings.

When he reached the tower closest to Kara he was barely 10 feet away from her. Only now did she seem to register his presence, slowly turning her gaze towards him.

"It's all gone, Barry."

"Kara, I'm so sorry..." he started unable to finish the sentence. What could he possibly say.

"It's all my fault," she continued as if he wasn't there at all, "I should have been here."

"I don't think we did this," he blurred out. The look on her face scared him. It was equal parts devastated and angry.

"What do you mean we didn't do this? I chose to spend time on your Earth. I chose to leave because of you. This isn't your fault Barry. But it sure as hell is mine."

"That's not what I meant," he said, "I don't think this is your world. Not technically."

His words sparked a glimmer of hope in her eyes. "Go on," she said.

"I think this is a parallel timeline. I think something went wrong with the breach and we were sent here instead."

She took a minute to process what he was saying. "Can you get us back?" she asked.

"I… I don't know," answered Barry. _But I will do my best._

"I think I need to be alone for a bit."

"Kara, I don't think phones work here. How will I find you?"

"Just yell loudly," she said as she gave him a somewhat sad half smile.

Barry looked over the last sliver of the sun as it set. He exhaled and realized he had no idea what to do. He would usually count on the support of his team but on his own… he feared he just didn't have the skill set necessary to fix this. If it could be fixed at all. He remembered the vigilante again. He might not need his help to find Kara, but he might be useful in fixing the world. It would certainly beat doing nothing. "Gotham city it is," he thought to himself.

The road there was long and confusing. Barry realized he didn't know this Earth all too well despite technically living in it. And the roads were barely worth being called that. The trip there took him most of the night. He ran past desolate towns and camped communities of refugees along the roads. By the time he reached Gotham dawn was breaking.

The city seemed different than any other city he had seen before. A Gothic design right down to the foundations it radiated an oppressive atmosphere even at daybreak. Oddly enough the city seemed to be intact. The main road to the city was guarded by a sign that read: "Breachers beware," decorated by a sprayed on bat.

As Barry made his way across the city he noticed the streets were empty. He ran the entire city, every road and every street he could find. Until he found himself in a dark alley, which Gotham had a solid surplus of. He didn't have time to react to the wire that suddenly appeared beneath his feet. Or the blades that hit his leg as soon as he was down. The last thing he saw was a figure jumping off a nearby ledge and punching him in the face.

Barry had awoken in a dark room with a familiar humming. He could recognize the power dampening technology his team used to contain meta-humans. It took a moment for him to process what happened. And a few more to understand how. A figure emerged from the shadows. He couldn't see him very well. But he could see his dark silhouette. It was almost...bat-like.

"Rise and shine speedster," the figure said.

His voice sounded familiar even with the obvious modulation device he was using to mask it.

"Who are you?" he asked still sitting down.

"Oh, I think you remember me, breacher. We've met before," he replied.

"Listen, I'm really sorry but I think you have me confused with someone else. My name is..."

"Barry Allen of Earth-1. Also known as the Flash. Did I get that right?"

"How could you possibly know that?" asked Barry more confused than ever before.

The man stepped closer into the light, his face almost touching the glass.

"Her friends and family were less than willing to keep your secret once you killed her, Barry."

The mans voice almost sounded like a growl.

"Who? Who did I kill?" he asked. He feared the answer seeing how only one very specific group of people knew his name here.

"Alright, I will play along. Supergirl," his fist smashed the glass, "You killed Supergirl."

Barry stood there frozen with shock. He knew full well his Kara was still alive. But the idea that any version of him could hurt her made him sick. The man continued.

"You know her cousin and I were close. He once asked me to take care of her, should anything happen to him. And once he left… You killed her on my watch, Flash."

"Why did I do it?" asked Barry almost ignoring everything said up to that point.

"I admit you probably had little choice in the matter. You breachers are a heartless lot."

"It wasn't me."

"I saw you with my own eyes," said the man.

"Listen to me," said Barry half shouting, "It wasn't me. I'm from a different timeline."

"Interesting excuse," said the man, "Plausible enough to be true but just impossible enough to verify. Nicely done. But I'm not buying it."

"It's true. Kara is with me, we can just go ask her..."

"Careful there, Flash. You're pushing it"

He tried to reason with the man further but was getting less and less confident in his chances of success. He noticed something peculiar about his face. Or the parts he could see anyway. The were looking more and more familiar until it clicked.

"Oliver?" he asked. It never occurred to him that people he knew on his Earth could exist here under different names.

"I don't know what you're talking about," the man said, "If you must you can call me Batman. You're going to be here a while."

Barry felt like he was out of options. The only option he really had left was one that was obvious from the start.

The Flash took a deep breath and screamed, "Kara!"

"You really are a lunatic aren't you?" said Batman. Barry sat in his cell and waited for what seemed like hours. He rally had no time to compare to and for a speedster everything seemed slow to begin with.

"Serves me right," he said after he eventually lost hope that she would answer his call.

"Computer is there an earthquake?" asked Batman. The "no" heard as a response didn't make sense compared to the fact that the ground beneath him was clearly shaking. The magnitude of the faux earthquake kept rising as it seemed until the rumbling turned into rhythmic smashing of fists. Barry was forced to smile by his relief and leaned back on his cell. The smashing eventually turned into the familiar sound of laser beams.

"Hey sweetie, took you long enough," he said as if the situation was completely different.

She curtsied in midair and said, "Well, of course I did."

"On a more serious note where were you? I called like forever ago," he said.

"Oh, you know, takes a while to get ready… Also sound doesn't really travel all that fast. Honestly you're lucky I heard you at all."

"Lucky? You were the one who wanted to use shouting as a form of communication, what are we cavemen?"

"That's not fair Barry. I was dealing with stuff and to be perfectly honest I assumed you would stick around in Central city."

Barry sighed a breath of relief. "I guess that's fair enough," he said.

Batman stood there watching the exchange with a batarang in hand still confused on whether or not he should use it.

"Excuse me!" he shouted somehow looking at both of them simultaneously.

Barry looked at him and now seemed more annoyed by his imprisonment than concerned. "Batman, this is the woman I… killed," he looked at Kara while he said it in a manner that conveyed both the situation and the fact he didn't understand it at all, "Kara… this is Batman."

Batman said nothing. He simply walked over to the computer and entered the release command.


	12. Something ends

Hey everybody... sorry for the constant delays. University takes up a lot of my time these days. This story is far from over and I hope you will continue to stick with it even despite the hectic upload schedule. As always thanks to my glorious editor... who isn`t responsible for the possible mistakes in this one because I had some software issues. I hope you enjoy. Do leave a review as I always appreciate any feedback.

* * *

"You have 10 seconds to start explaining," said Batman. His cowl was somehow showing his confusion.

"Oh, relax, Bruce. What are you even doing?" asked Kara, then immediately shut her mouth as she realized what she had said.

"He told you?" Batman was taken aback. His voice and body language revealed legitimate shock so great that it showed despite his lifetime of training to prevent such outbreaks.

"Well… yes. But in his defense he made me promise not to tell anyone," continued Kara.

"You just told him!" yelled Batman pointing at Barry, at this point losing any semblance of his once scary presence.

Kara landed on the floor. "Well maybe you shouldn't have kidnapped my boyfriend then."

"What she said," blurted out Barry trying to participate in an argument he had no real business being in.

"Boyfriend? This is the man who killed you, speaking of which how are you alive?" continued Bruce.

"It's complicated," she answered unsure if there was even a way to legitimately explain the situation, "Honestly, Barry is better with this stuff."

Bruce Wayne turned towards Barry his face now revealed as there was clearly no point in keeping up the secrecy. "Well?" he said demanding answers.

"Apparently our constant travel between worlds caused damage in the speed force. There's a crack in the time-line of the multi-verse and I think it caused a change in our past."

Bruce nodded. "This makes sense."

Barry and Kara looked befuddled. "Just like that?" they asked.

"After the world pretty much ended I had a lot of time on my hands. I was doing some research into the multi-verse, and more specifically the energy connecting it. I believe this speed force of yours is a part of it."

"And what did you find out?" asked Barry, who still knew very little on the subject.

"Your theory is solid," he said, "But I don't believe that's it. The multi-verse is inherently very traversable. Especially for somebody like you. I believe something else caused the crack. And I don't think it was an accident."

"That's a bit of a stretch, isn't it?" asked Kara.

"I don't think so," he continued, "There have been some anomalous readings all over the place. There's a clear pattern that suggests an intelligence unlike anything we've ever seen before."

Kara and Barry looked at each-other. No words were required to voice their concern.

"I guess the better question is… can we fix it?" asked Barry.

"The majority of the damage to the time-line can be reversed in my opinion, but I can't promise it can be fixed completely."

"You understand if we do this..." said Barry.

"I will be erased. I know. There's nothing here for me, Barry. I was prepared for this for a long time. You just have to worry about going back."

"I understand. You know you look just like my friend from Earth 1. His name was Oliver Queen."

Bruce Wayne smiled knowingly. "Goodbye, Barry." He turned to Kara. "It was good seeing you again." Kara said nothing and instead just nodded her head.

"I know what we have to do now," said Barry.

Kara knew what he was talking about. "Race you," she said as she bolted.

Barry took one last look at Bruce Wayne as he sat behind his computer. He heard him give a voice command to his computer. "Computer dial Dick Grayson."

Barry bolted behind Kara.

It didn't take long to catch up to her. "No fair," she yelled.

"You ready?" he asked.

"Lead the way, scarlet speedster"

They crossed the even horizon of the breach as it opened and the world dissolved behind them. When they exited on the other side they could at last see the sun again.

"It's a good thing we remembered to bring our luggage," said Kara.

"Tell me about it," said Barry, "I'll go check the CatCo archives to see if anything went wrong."

"I can take the luggage back home," she offered.

"Meet you back home," he said before he gave her a quick kiss on the lips.

Barry returned home victorious from his immensely boring quest of sifting through the archives.

"I think we're good," he said triumphantly.

He found Kara in a slight state of shock.

"Barry… I think I'm an aunt… kind of"

"What do you mean, kind of?" asked Barry. He always felt like being somebody's aunt was a completely yes or no situation. "Alex?"

"No… Clark and Lois have a kid now apparently."

"Hey, that's pretty cool."

"Cool? Barry he's seven years old. How am I supposed to tell Clark I have no memories of his kid whatsoever'?"

"Look, Kara, considering we just fixed a time-line, which was apparently wrecked by a something, I think your cousin having a son is a relatively good result."

"That's fair enough," she said," Clark will understand. He deals with this sort of stuff all the time, right?"

"That's right. Now if you will excuse me… I am going to bed," said Barry.

"Best idea I've heard all day."


End file.
